Integrated repeater system and method to operate integrated repeater system

ABSTRACT

An integrated repeater system that includes a repeater device having a first surface and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface. The repeater device further comprises phased array antenna receivers arranged on the first surface and receives a mmWave radio frequency signal from a base station, and one or more phased array antenna transmitters arranged on the second surface and transmits the received mmWave radio frequency signal through a glass structure to a user equipment. The integrated repeater system further comprises an impedance matching component between the second surface and the glass structure. Further, an impedance of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters is tuned in accordance with the glass structure based on the impedance matching component.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This Patent Application makes reference to, claims priority to, claimsthe benefit of, and is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/341,370, filed Jun. 7, 2021, which is aContinuation Application of U.S. Pat. No. 11,038,581, Issued on Jun. 15,2021, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 62/841,369, filed on May 1, 2019, the entire content of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure related to a wirelesstelecommunication system. More specifically, certain embodiments of thedisclosure relate to an integrated repeater system and method to operatethe integrated repeater system.

BACKGROUND

Next generation of wireless telecommunication technologies (e.g. 5G orupcoming 6G) are being developed to deliver much faster data rate ascompared to data rate provided by long term evolution (LTE or 4G)technology. Emergence of such next generation of wirelesstelecommunication technologies, for example, in cm-wave and mm-wavebands, is introducing new opportunities as well as new technicalchallenges. For example, there is a high transmission loss (also calledtransmittance loss or attenuation) through signal-obstructing physicalobjects at high radio frequencies. The high radio frequencies, such asthe cm-wave and mm-wave radio signals, demonstrate high transmissionlosses when propagating through typical signal-obstructing physicalobjects, such as low emissivity (low-e) glass, tinted glass, otherglasses or glass-like objects, when compared to sub-5 GHz radio signals,which is not desirable. In an example, it is observed that low-e glasswindows have large insertion loss at mm-wave frequencies, for example,about around 30-40 decibels (dB). This causes insufficient 5G signalstrength within buildings having such signal-obstructing physicalobjects. Current studies indicate that at 28 GHz, transmission loss (orattenuation) through coated glass windows, may be in a range of 25 to 60dB. Further, it is observed that even clear non-tinted glass hastransmission loss of about 4 dB. Moreover, it is further observed thatat 28 GHz, indoor drywall attenuation may be about 7 dB. Thus, it can beestimated that by adding up the free space loss and losses throughdifferent materials, even receiving a signal from an outdoor cell siteto a user at home or in a cluttered office environment is a hugetechnical challenge. Furthermore, conventional repeater systems andtheir antennas are normally designed to operate in open air. It isobserved that when they are placed near the glass structures, theirperformance is further degraded, and a lower output power may beexpected from such conventional repeater systems, which is notdesirable.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An integrated repeater system and method to operate the integratedrepeater system for high network performance, substantially as shown inand/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as setforth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network environment diagram that illustrates an exemplaryintegrated repeater system for high network performance, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2A is an illustration of an exemplary integrated repeater systemfor high network performance, in accordance with another exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2B is an illustration of an exemplary integrated repeater systemfor high network performance, in accordance with yet another exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2C is an illustration of an exemplary integrated repeater systemfor high network performance, in accordance with another exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary phased array antenna receiversand phased array antenna transmitters of a repeater device of anintegrated repeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary integrated phased arrayantenna transceiver of a repeater device of an integrated repeatersystem, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary repeater device with a heatsink, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary integrated repeater system, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary scenario of implementation ofan exemplary integrated repeater system for high network performance, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates an exemplary method to operatean integrated repeater system for high network performance, inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in an integratedrepeater system and method to operate the integrated repeater system.Currently, there are many technical problems associated withconventional repeater systems. For example, in a first technicalproblem, it is observed that low-e glass windows, for example, thosewith low-e double glazed glass, have large transmission loss at mm-wavefrequencies, for example, about around 30-40 decibels (dB). This causesinsufficient 5G signal strength within buildings having such low-e glassstructures. In a second technical problem, it is observed that whenconventional repeater systems are placed near the low-e glassstructures, their performance is further degraded, for example, a loweroutput power is achieved from the conventional repeater systems, whichresults in low signal strength of signals within buildings and lowerdata rates. In addition to the large transmission loss of the low-eglass structures (i.e. low-e glass coating), there is an additionalproblem of the filtering effect of the double-glazing glass structure(e.g. glass/air/glass) in terms of frequency and scan direction ofsignals. The disclosed integrated repeater system is an improvedrepeater system that not only mitigates, for example, the aforementionedtechnical problems, but also provides a low-power, low-latency,low-heating solution, and ensures almost no transmission loss or atleast significantly reduced transmission loss of mmWave radio frequencysignal when passed through such low-e glass structures or the low-edouble glazed glasses. Moreover, existing repeater systems require twoor more network nodes (conventional repeater devices) that needs to beplaced on either side of such low-e glass structures to boost signalstrength to certain extent. In contradiction to existing systems, thedisclosed integrated repeater system may be referred to as one-sidedrepeater system as only one repeater device may be arranged at one sideof such low-e glass structures or the low-e double glazed glasses,thereby reducing form factor, cost, while at the same time improvingsignal quality in terms of signal strength and increased data rates(e.g. multigigabit data rates). In the following description, referenceis made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown, by way of illustration, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a network environment diagram that illustrates an exemplaryintegrated repeater system for high network performance, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a network environment diagram 100 that may include anintegrated repeater system 102, a base station 124, and a user equipment(UE) 126. The integrated repeater system 102 may include a repeaterdevice 104 and an impedance matching component 106.

The integrated repeater system 102 may include suitable logic,circuitry, and/or interfaces that may be configured to receive a mmWaveradio frequency signal from the base station 124 and provide the mmWaveradio frequency signal with reduced transmission loss or almost notransmission loss to the user equipment 126. Similarly, the integratedrepeater system 102 may be configured to receive a mmWave radiofrequency signal from the user equipment 126 in an uplink communication,and provide the mmWave radio frequency signal with reduced transmissionloss or almost no transmission loss to the base station 124. Therepeater device 104 of the integrated repeater system 102 may beconfigured to operate in mmWave radio frequency range for cellularcommunication. In another implementation, the repeater device 104 maysupport multiple and a wide range of frequency spectrum, such as 3G, 4G,5G NR, or true 5G. In some embodiments, multiple frequency spectrums maybe supported together. For 5G NR, there may be two NR frequency Ranges(frequency range 1 and 2) that may be utilized for practicalimplementations. Frequency range 1 may overlap and extend 4G LTEfrequencies, operating from 450 MHz to 6,000 MHz, which is also commonlyreferred to as NR or sub-6 gigahertz (GHz). Frequency range 2 operatesat a much higher about 24 GHz to 52 GHz, which is commonly also referredto as millimeter wave (mmWave), although ‘millimeter’ frequency lengthtypically begins at 30 GHz. Examples of the repeater device 104 mayinclude, but is not limited to a 5G wireless access point, anevolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (NR) dualconnectivity (EN-DC) device, a NR-enabled repeater device, a NR-enabledrepeater device or system.

The repeater device 104 may have a first surface 108A and a secondsurface 108B that is opposite the first surface 108A. In accordance withan embodiment, the repeater device 104 may have an elongated rectangularbox-like structure having four surfaces, where the first surface 108Amay be opposite the second surface 108B, and a third surface may beopposite the fourth surface. In an implementation, the first surface108A and the second surface 108B may be greater in size than the thirdsurface and the fourth surface. In another implementation, the firstsurface 108A and the second surface 108B may be same in size than thethird surface and the fourth surface. In accordance with an embodiment,the repeater device 104 may further include a heat sink (not shown). Inan implementation, the heat sink may be arranged at any one of the thirdsurface or the fourth surface. The heat sink acts a thermal conductorthat dissipates away the heat generated by the repeater device 104,thereby allowing regulation of the temperature of the repeater device104 at levels suitable for functioning of the repeater device 104.

The repeater device 104 may further comprise one or more phased arrayantenna receivers, such as a first phased array antenna receiver 110A, asecond phased array antenna receiver 110B, a third phased array antennareceiver 110C, and a fourth phased array antenna receiver 110D. Inaccordance with an embodiment, each of the one or more phased arrayantenna receivers are implemented as a hardware antenna module or a chiphaving a number of antenna elements. In an example, each of the antennaelements may be a patch antenna (i.e. also referred to as a patchradiator or a patch radiating element). In an example, each phased arrayantenna receiver may include “X” number of elements in a shape of asquare, where a size of each side of the square may be in a range from11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 mm up to 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, or 23 mmrespectively, and where X″ may be one of: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18,or 20 elements. In an implementation, each phased array antenna receivermay have 16 elements (4×4) with a size of about 23.6×23.6 mm2. In anexample, the antenna elements may be spaced in a range of 2, 3, 4, or 5mm up to 3, 4, 5, 6 mm. In an implementation, the antenna elements arespaced about 5.9 mm, so the actual size of each 32-element phased arrayaperture is about 47.2×23.6 mm2. The one or more phased array antennareceivers are configured to receive a mmWave radio frequency signal fromthe base station 124. In an implementation, the one or more phased arrayantenna receivers (i.e. the first phased array antenna receiver 110A,the second phased array antenna receiver 110B, the third phased arrayantenna receiver 110C, and the fourth phased array antenna receiver110D) are arranged on the first surface 108A, as shown. An example ofthe one or more phased array antenna receivers is further described, forexample, in FIG. 3 .

The repeater device 104 may further comprise one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters, such as a first phased array antenna transmitter112A, a second phased array antenna transmitter 112B, a third phasedarray antenna transmitter 112C, and a fourth phased array antennatransmitter 112D. In accordance with an embodiment, each of the one ormore phased array antenna transmitters are implemented as a hardwareantenna module or a chip having a number of antenna elements similar tothat of the one or more phased array antenna receivers. In an example,each of the antenna elements may be a patch antenna (i.e. also referredto as a patch radiator or a patch radiating element). In an example,similar to that of the phased array antenna receiver, each phased arrayantenna transmitter may include “X” number of elements in a shape of asquare, where a size of each side of the square may be in a range from11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 mm up to 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, or 23 mmrespectively, and where X″ may be one of: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18,or 20 elements. In an implementation, each phased array antennatransmitter may have 16 elements (4×4) with a size of about 23.6×23.6mm2. In an implementation, the repeater device 104 may have a directcurrent (DC) power consumption of about 10-20 W (in conventionaldevices, the power consumption is typically more than 25-26 W or more).The spacing antenna elements may be similar to that of the spacing ofantenna elements of the one or more phased array antenna receivers. Inan implementation, the one or more phased array antenna transmitters(such as the first phased array antenna transmitter 112A, the secondphased array antenna transmitter 112B, the third phased array antennatransmitter 112C, and the fourth phased array antenna transmitter 112D)may be arranged on the second surface 108B. The first surface 108A ofthe repeater device 104 may face towards the base station 124, whereasthe second surface 108B may face towards the glass structure 114. Inanother implementation, the one or more phased array antennatransmitters may be arranged on the first surface 108A. The one or morephased array antenna transmitters are configured to transmit thereceived mmWave radio frequency signal through a glass structure 114 tothe user equipment 126. The transmitted mmWave radio frequency signalafter propagation through the glass structure 114 may have a first levelof transmission loss. An example of the one or more phased array antennatransmitters is further described, for example, in FIG. 3 .

Alternatively, in an embodiment, beneficially, the one or more phasedarray antenna receivers and one or more phased array antennatransmitters are integrated into one phased array antenna transceiverthat comprises an array of antenna elements. In such an embodiment, theintegrated phased array antenna transceiver may be arranged at the firstsurface 108A. Moreover, a size of the repeater device 104 may be in arange from approximately 5×5 cm² up to 8×8 cm² (including variouscomponents, such as the integrated one phased array antenna transceiver,a printed circuit board (e.g. motherboard) on which the one phased arrayantenna transceiver may be arranged, peripherals, etc.). In an exemplaryimplementation, the integrated phased array antenna transceiver mayinclude a shared 32-elements (8×4) phased array antenna. The repeaterdevice 104 may be configured to distribute (or share) a signal receivingfunction and a signal transmitting function among the array of antennaelements of the integrated one phased array antenna. In an embodiment,one or more integrated phased array antenna transceivers may be arrangedin the repeater device 104, such as at the first surface 108A. In such acase, integrated phased array antenna transceiver that have 32 antennaelements may have a size of approximately 52×31 mm². The antennaelements may be spaced about 2-5.5 mm, specifically 5.2 mm, so theactual size of the 32-element phased array aperture may be about41.6×20.8 mm². In such a case, as a result of the specific configurationof the integrated one phased array antenna, the power consumption of therepeater device 104 may be reduced significantly, for example, less thanor equal to about 5 W. In accordance with an embodiment, the array ofantenna elements of the integrated one phased array antenna maycorrespond to a micro-strip antenna element, or a metallic patchradiator printed on a substrate, for example, Silicon, Benzocyclobutane,Nylon, FR-4, and the like. The substrate may also be referred to as aprinted circuit board. Thus, the integrated repeater system 102 may alsoinclude the printed circuit board. Similarly, the one or more phasedarray antenna receivers and the one or more phased array antennatransmitters are printed on a same printed circuit board or a separateprinted circuit board. An example of the integrated phased array antennatransceiver is further described, for example, in FIG. 4 .

In accordance with an embodiment, the glass structure 114 may be presentnear the repeater device 104. In an implementation, the repeater device104 may be attached or integrated with the glass structure 114. In anexample, the repeater device 104 may be removably attached to the glassstructure 114. In another example, the repeater device 104 may beintegrated as a unitary part (non-separable part of the glass structure114). In another implementation, the repeater device 104 may be arrangedat a certain proximal distance from the glass structure 114 (i.e. nearthe glass structure 114 but not attached or integrated with the glassstructure 114).

In accordance with an embodiment, the glass structure 114 may be alow-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layers of glass withan air gap 120 between the two layers of glass. A first layer 116 of thetwo layers of glass may have a first outer surface 116A facing thesecond surface 108B of the repeater device 104 and a first inner surface116B facing the air gap 120. A second layer 118 of glass may have asecond outer surface 118A and a second inner surface 118B facing thefirst inner surface 116B. Alternatively, the glass structure 114 may bea low-emissivity multiple-glazed structure having more than two layersof glass with one or more fillings or air gap. In addition to the largetransmission loss of the low-e glass coating, there is an additionalproblem related to the filtering effect of the double-glazing glass(DGU) structure (i.e. glass/air/glass) with respect to frequency andscan direction. Typically, multiple layers (or panes) of glass in awindow unit causes additional interference. For example, double ortriple-glazed windows may more block signals than single-glazed windows,and triple glazed may block more signals than double glazed andsingle-glazed windows. Thus, modern windows and glass fittings onbuildings with emission-reducing (Low-E) coatings deflect even moreradio frequency signal, reduce the power of the signal, or interferewith the scan direction, resulting in the filtering effect in additionto the significant level of transmission loss (e.g. the first level oftransmission loss).

In some embodiments, beneficially, the integrated repeater system 102comprises a patterned coating 122 provided at the glass structure 114.The patterned coating 122 refers to a coating on low-e glass windows,which may be patterned to produce one or more passage (or openings) formmWave frequencies (while still blocking ultra violet (UV) radiation andheat). In an example, a frequency-selective surface (FSS) basedpatterning may be applied. The patterned coating 122 reduces the firstlevel of transmission loss, but only up 10 dB. In other words, even withthe patterned coating 122, the expected insertion loss (or transmissionloss) through the glass structure 114 is detected equal to or below 10dB. In this case, the patterned coating 122 is provided on the firstinner surface 116B of the first layer 116 of the glass structure 114.Beneficially, it is observed that when a single-sided integratedrepeater, such as the integrated repeater system 102, may be arranged onthe interior side of the window, i.e., the first inner surface 116B ofthe first layer 116 of the glass structure 114, the first level oftransmission loss is reduced more than 10 dB (i.e. improved handing oftransmission loss). In such a case, the repeater device 104 may be afully integrated repeater on a glass window/frame (i.e. the glassstructure 114) or a miniaturized repeater device 104 placed nearby theglass structure 114.

Advantageously, the impedance matching component 106 of the integratedrepeater system 102 further improves the signal quality. The impedancematching component 106 may also be referred to as an impedance matchinglayer provided on the second surface 108B of the repeater device 104.The impedance matching component 106 having a dielectric property may bearranged between the second surface 108B and the glass structure 114. Inan implementation, specifically, the impedance matching component 106may be attached to (or arranged on) the second surface 108B of therepeater device 104 and the first outer surface 116A of the glassstructure 114.

In accordance with an embodiment, the dielectric property of theimpedance matching component 106 corresponds to a dielectric constantthat may be in a range of, for example, 2 to 4. The term ‘impedancematching’ refers to a process of making one impedance look like another.In this case, the impedance of the one or more phased array antennatransmitters may be matched with impedance of the glass structure 114 toachieve maximum power transfer of the mmWave radio frequency signaloutputted from the one or more phased array antenna transmitters throughthe glass structure 114.

The base station 124 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and/orinterfaces that may be configured to communicate with the repeaterdevice 104, and the user equipment 126 via the repeater device 104.Specifically, the base station 124 may be configured to transmit ammWave radio frequency signal to the repeater device 104. Typically,bandwidth requirements serve as a guideline for a location of a basestation and the count of base stations may be dependent on, for example,population density and geographic irregularities, such as buildings,monuments, and physical terrain such as mountain ranges, which mayinterfere with communication of radio frequency signals (or beams ofradio frequency signals). The integrated repeater system 102 may bedeployed between the base station 104 and one or more communicationdevices, such as the user equipment 126 to mitigate lack ofline-of-sight or other communication issues between the base station104, and the one or more communication devices. Examples of the basestation 104 may include, but is not limited to, an evolved Node B (eNB),a Next Generation Node B (gNB), and the like.

The user equipment 126 refers to a telecommunication hardware used by anend-user to communicate. Alternatively stated, the user equipment 126may refer to a combination of mobile equipment and subscriber identitymodule (SIM). Examples of the user equipment 126 may include, but arenot limited to a smartphone, a mobile communication equipment, acustomer premise equipment (CPE), a high definition media device, or anyother customized hardware for telecommunication.

In operation, the repeater device 104 may be configured to receive ammWave radio frequency signal from the base station 124. The repeaterdevice 104 may be further configured to transmit the received mmWaveradio frequency signal through the glass structure 114 to the userequipment 126, where the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal afterpropagation through the glass structure 114 has a first level oftransmission loss. Based on the impedance matching component 106, therepeater device 104 may be further configured to tune an impedance ofthe one or more phased array antenna transmitters (such as the firstphased array antenna transmitter 112A, the second phased array antennatransmitter 112B, the third phased array antenna transmitter 112C, andthe fourth phased array antenna transmitter 112D) in accordance with theglass structure 1114. The impedance in the one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters may be detected and the detected impedance may bematched (i.e. tuned) with the impedance of the glass structure 114 suchthat the impedances the one or more phased array antenna transmittersand the glass structure 114 may be same or approximately same. Thetuning of the impedance results in an increase in the power of thesignals (i.e. significantly improved signal strength) transmitted fromthe one or more phased array antenna transmitters even after suchsignals passes through the glass structure 114. Based on the impedancematching component 106, the repeater device 104 may be furtherconfigured to change a filter response of the glass structure 114 suchthat the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagationthrough the impedance matching component 106 and the glass structure 114has at least one of: no transmission loss at a frequency of thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or a second level oftransmission loss that may be less than the first level of transmissionloss. In other words, the impedance matching component 106 enableschanging of the filter response of the glass structure 114 (versusfrequency and scan angle) such that the transmission loss (i.e.transmission dip) happens at some other frequencies and not thefrequency of the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or it may benot as profound as typically observed in double glazing glasses. Forexample, the first level of transmission loss may be about 30-40decibels (dB), whereas the second level of transmission loss may besignificantly less than 30 dB, such as 0 dB, 1 dB, 2 dB, 3 dB, 4 dB, 5dB, or less than 10-12 dB in an example. The change of filter responsecorresponds to reducing the filtering effect.

In accordance with an embodiment, the integrated repeater system 102further comprises a lens arranged at the glass structure 114. The lensmay increase a scanning range of the repeater device 104 such that thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component 106, the glass structure 114, and furtherthrough the lens has an increased antenna gain, an increased scanningrange, and almost no transmission loss at the frequency of thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal. In some implementations, thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component 106, the glass structure 114, and furtherthrough the lens has the second level of transmission loss that may beless than the first level of transmission loss. The lens and itsarrangement in the integrated repeater system 102 are further describedin detail, for example, in FIG. 2A to 2C.

In accordance with another embodiment, in the uplink communication, forexample, similarly, the repeater device 104 may be configured to receivea mmWave radio frequency signal from the user equipment 126 through theglass structure 114, where the received mmWave radio frequency signalafter propagation through the glass structure 114 has a first level oftransmission loss. Based on the impedance matching component 106, therepeater device 104 may be further configured to tune an impedance ofthe one or more phased array antenna receivers and the one or morephased array antenna transmitters in accordance with the glass structure114. The impedance in the one or more phased array antenna receivers andthe one or more phased array antenna transmitters may be detected andthe detected impedance may be matched (i.e. tuned) with the impedance ofthe glass structure 114 such that the impedances the one or more phasedarray antenna receivers and transmitters and the glass structure 114 maybe same or approximately the same. Based on the impedance matchingcomponent 106, the repeater device 104 may be further configured tochange a filter response of the glass structure 114. The repeater device104 may be further configured to transmit the received mmWave radiofrequency signal after propagation through the impedance matchingcomponent 106 and the glass structure 114 to the base station 124 suchthat the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal has at least one of:no transmission loss at a frequency of the transmitted mmWave radiofrequency signal or a second level of transmission loss that may be lessthan the first level of transmission loss. In other words, the impedancematching component 106 enables changing of the filter response of theglass structure 114 (versus frequency and scan angle) such that thetransmission loss (i.e. transmission dip) happens at some otherfrequencies and not the frequency of the transmitted mmWave radiofrequency signal or it may be not as profound as typically observed indouble glazing glasses.

FIG. 2A is an illustration of an exemplary integrated repeater systemfor high network performance, in accordance with another exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 2A, there is shownan integrated repeater system 200A. In this embodiment, the integratedrepeater system 200A further includes a lens 202.

In accordance with an embodiment, the glass structure 114 may be alow-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layers of glass withthe air gap 120 between the two layers of glass. The first layer 116 ofthe two layers of glass has a first outer surface 116A facing the secondsurface 108B of the repeater device 104 and the first inner surface 116Bfacing the air gap 120. The glass structure 114 may the second layer 118of glass has the second outer surface 118A facing the lens 202 and thesecond inner surface 118B facing the first inner surface 116B. In thiscase, the lens 202 may be arranged on the second outer surface 118A ofthe glass structure 114. In such a case, the transmitted mmWave radiofrequency signal after propagation through the impedance matchingcomponent 106 and the glass structure 114 further passes through thelens 202. The repeater device 104 may be further configured to excite asubset of antenna elements of the one or more phased array antennatransmitters. For example, a subset of antenna elements (16 antennaelements or 8 antenna elements of the second phased array antennatransmitter 112B may be excited out of 32 or 16 elements respectively).In another example, all antenna elements of only one phased arrayantenna transmitter from multiple phased array antenna transmitters, maybe excited. The subset of antenna elements may be excited when themmWave radio frequency signal is to be transmitted to the user equipment126 through the impedance matching component 106, the glass structure114, and the lens 202. The repeater device 104 may be further configuredto execute a switched beamforming from the excited subset of antennaelements based on the lens 202 in order to switch between a plurality ofbeams of mmWave radio frequency signals that points to differentdirections. In the conventional repeater systems, all the elements ofthe one or more phased array antenna receivers and the one or morephased array antenna transmitters (i.e. Tx/Rx array) are excited tobeamform, which produces continuous beamforming, and thus is not powerefficient and is computational resource intensive. In contradiction tothe conventional systems, in the repeater device 104 that is lensenhanced (i.e. the integrated repeater system 200A), not all theelements of the TX/RX array are excited, and only the subset of antennaelements may be excited to switch between beams of radio frequencysignals pointing into different directions, thereby producing switchedbeamforming, which is power efficient and not computational resourceintensive.

In accordance with an embodiment, in the integrated repeater system200A, the lens 202 may be arranged at the glass structure 114 such thata scanning range of the one or more phased array antenna transmittersmay be increased for the execution of the switched beamforming. Theincrease in the scanning range improves the number of users that can besupported by the integrated repeater system 200A. For example, anincreased number of user equipment may then be supported. The lens 202when arranged at the glass structure 114 not only increases the scanningrange of the repeater device 104, but also increases an antenna gainwhile maintaining no transmission loss at the frequency of thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or a third level oftransmission loss that is less than the first level of transmission lossand the second level of transmission loss. In other words, the lens 202placed on the exterior of the window glass (i.e. the lens 202 arrangedon the second outer surface 118A of the glass structure 114) isadvantageous as it boosts antenna gain, increases scanning ranges, andat the same time enables switched beamforming in power efficient manner.

In accordance with an embodiment, the integrated repeater system 200Athat includes the lens 202 may further facilitate robust communicationfor millimeter wave enabled devices at frequency bands and increaseddata rates (multi gigabit data rate) that support the “4G”, “5G” orhigher (nG) standards. In an implementation, a single lens may be usedin the integrated repeater system 200A. In another implementation, aplurality of lenses may be used in the integrated repeater system 200Adepending on the transmission loss detected in the transmitted mmWaveradio frequency signal after passing through the glass structure 114.The lens 202 may be made of glass or plastic material, and may have adefined shape and a defined distribution of dielectric constant. Forexample, the dielectric constant may be in a range of 2 to 4. Thedefined shape may be one of a convex shape, a squared lens shape, arectangular lens shape, or an arbitrary lens shape. The lens 202 mayhave an arrangement of an aperture, referred to as a lens aperture,which may be much larger than the array aperture to provide more antennagain. The array aperture may also be referred to as antenna aperture,which may be refer to an area, oriented perpendicular to the directionof an incoming electromagnetic wave (e.g. mmWave radio frequencysignal), which may intercept the same amount of power from that wave asmay be produced by the antenna receiving it. Alternatively, a size ofthe of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters may be definedby its aperture. In an example, there may be a tradeoff between the sizeof the lens 202 and scanning range of the repeater device 104 as aresult of the arrangement of the lens 202. In some embodiments, forexample, in this case, the glass structure 114 may not necessarily needto be patterned.

FIG. 2B is an illustration of an exemplary integrated repeater systemfor high network performance, in accordance with another exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 2B, there is shownan integrated repeater system 200B. In this embodiment, the integratedrepeater system 200B further includes a lens 204.

In accordance with an embodiment, the glass structure 114 may be alow-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layers of glass withthe air gap 120 between the two layers of glass. The first layer 116 ofthe two layers of glass has a first outer surface 116A facing the secondsurface 108B of the repeater device 104 and the first inner surface 116Bfacing the air gap 120. The glass structure 114 may the second layer 118of glass has the second outer surface 118A and the second inner surface118B facing the air gap 120 and the first inner surface 116B. In thiscase, the lens 204 may be arranged in the air gap 120 between the firstinner surface 116B and the second inner surface 118B. In such a case,the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation throughthe impedance matching component 106 passes through the glass structure114 (which includes integrated lens 204). Thus, the transmitted mmWaveradio frequency signal passes through the lens 204 while passing throughthe glass structure 114. Such an arrangement achieves all the technicaleffect and advantages as of the arrangement of the lens 202 in FIG. 2A.Moreover, such an arrangement has an additional advantage of reducingthe form factor, that is reducing the size (increasing compactness) ofthe integrated repeater system 102 as the lens is within the glassstructure 114.

FIG. 2C is an illustration of an exemplary integrated repeater systemfor high network performance, in accordance with another exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 2C, there is shownan integrated repeater system 200C. In this embodiment, the integratedrepeater system 200C further includes a lens 206.

In accordance with an embodiment, the glass structure 114 may be alow-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layers of glass withthe air gap 120 between the two layers of glass. The first layer 116 ofthe two layers of glass has a first outer surface 116A facing the secondsurface 108B of the repeater device 104 and the first inner surface 116Bfacing the air gap 120. The glass structure 114 may include the secondlayer 118 of glass that has the second outer surface 118A and the secondinner surface 118B facing the air gap 120 and the first inner surface116B. In this embodiment, the lens 206 may be integrated or patterned inat least one of the two layers of glass of the glass structure 114. Inthis case, as shown in the FIG. 2C, in an example, the lens 206 may bepatterned in the second layer 118 of the two layers of glass of theglass structure 114. Such an arrangement achieves all the technicaleffect and advantages as the arrangement of the lens 204 in FIG. 2A.Moreover, such an arrangement has an additional advantage of furtherreducing the size of the glass structure 114 as well as the size(increasing compactness) of the integrated repeater system 102 as theair gap 120 devoid of any lens may be reduced. In an implementation, theair gap 120 may filled with atmospheric air. In another implementation,the air gap 120 may be filled with known gases that helps in reducing UVradiation and heat conduction, do not interfere with visibility, and/orfacilitate reducing transmission loss.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary phased array antenna receiversand phased array antenna transmitters of a repeater device of anintegrated repeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodimentof the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 3 , there is shown amotherboard 302 that includes separate hardware modules of phased arrayantenna receivers 304 and 306 and phased array antenna transmitters 308and 310. In this exemplary embodiment, each of the phased array antennareceivers 304 and 306 as well as each of phased array antennatransmitters 308 and 310 may have 16 antenna elements (4×4) with a sizeof about 23.6×23.6 mm2, where the antenna elements are spaced about 5.9mm, so the actual size of each 32-elements phased array aperture (i.e. a32-element receiver and a 32-element transmitter) may be about 47.2×23.6mm2. In this case, a size of a length 312 of the motherboard 302 may beabout 8 cm and a size of a breadth 314 of the motherboard 302 may bealso about 8 cm. The size of the repeater device 104 may beapproximately same or similar to that of the size of the motherboard302. For example, in this case, the size of the repeater device 104 maybe approximately 8×8 cm² (including various components, such asperipherals, a printed circuit board (e.g. the motherboard 302) on whichthe phased array antenna receivers 304 and 306 as well as each of phasedarray antenna transmitters 308 and 310 may be arranged, etc.). In thisembodiment, the motherboard 302 that includes separate hardware modulesof phased array antenna receivers 304 and 306 and phased array antennatransmitters 308 and 310, may be arranged at the first surface 108A ofthe repeater device 104 such that the phased array antenna receivers 304and 306 and phased array antenna transmitters 308 and 310 faces the basestation 124 for uplink and downlink communication with the base station124 via the integrated repeater system 102. The integrated repeatersystem 102 may be referred to as one-sided repeater system 102 as onlyone repeater device, such as the repeater device 104, may be arranged atone side of the glass structure 114. In accordance with an embodiment,similar to the motherboard 302, another motherboard that includes otherphased array antenna receivers and phased array antenna transmitters,may also be arranged at the second surface 108B of the repeater device104 such that the other phased array antenna receivers and the phasedarray antenna transmitters faces the UE 126 for downlink and uplinkcommunication with the UE 126 via the integrated repeater system 102.Although the term motherboard 302 is utilized, the motherboard 302 mayalso be referred to as a circuit board.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary integrated phased arrayantenna transceiver of a repeater device of an integrated repeatersystem, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.With reference to FIG. 4 , there is shown a motherboard 402 thatincludes an integrated phased array antenna transceiver 404 (i.e. anintegrated hardware module) having an array of antenna elements 406. Inthis embodiment, the integrated phased array antenna transceiver 404 mayinclude a shared 32-elements (8×4) phased array antenna. The repeaterdevice 104 may be configured to distribute (or share) a signal receivingfunction and a signal transmitting function among the array of antennaelements 406 of the integrated phased array antenna transceiver 404. Inan implementation, the integrated phased array antenna transceiver 404may be arranged at the first surface 108A for uplink and downlinkcommunication with the base station 124 via the integrated repeatersystem 102. Similarly, another integrated phased array antennatransceiver may be arranged at the second surface 108B for uplink anddownlink communication with the UE 126 via the integrated repeatersystem 102.

In this embodiment, the integrated phased array antenna transceiver 404that includes a shared 32-elements (8×4) phased array antenna may have asize of approximately 52×31 mm². The array of antenna elements 406 maybe spaced about 2-5.5 mm, specifically 5.2 mm, so the actual size of the32-element phased array aperture may be about 41.6×20.8 mm² (which maybe less than the size of antenna configuration having separate hardwaremodules of phased array antenna receivers 304 and 306 and phased arrayantenna transmitters 308 and 310). In such a case, as a result of thespecific configuration of the integrated phased array antennatransceiver 404, the power consumption of the repeater device 104 may bereduced significantly, for example, less than or equal to about 15 W (incase of antenna configuration having separate hardware modules of phasedarray antenna receivers 304 and 306 and phased array antennatransmitters 308 and 310, typically, the power consumption of therepeater device 104 increases by about 50% or more, for example, aboutan increase of about 9 to 10 W, for example, about 25 W (15+10=25 W)).Moreover, in this case, a size of a length 408 of the motherboard 402may be about 8 cm and a size of a breadth 410 of the motherboard 402 maybe also about 8 cm. The size of the repeater device 104 may beapproximately same or similar to that of the size of the motherboard402. As a result of the specific configuration of the integrated phasedarray antenna transceiver 404, more antenna elements may be packed ascompared to antenna configuration of FIG. 3 or the size of the repeaterdevice 104 may be comparatively more compact.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary repeater device with a heatsink, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Withreference to FIG. 5 , there is shown a repeater device 500. The repeaterdevice 500 may correspond to the repeater device 104 of the integratedrepeater system 102 of FIGS. 1 and 2A to 2C. In this case, the repeaterdevice 500 may has an elongated rectangular box-like structure havingfour surfaces, where a first surface 502A may be opposite a secondsurface 502B, and a third surface 502C may be opposite a fourth surface502D. The first surface 502A and the second surface 502B correspond tothe first surface 108A and the second surface 108B respectively (FIG. 1). The repeater device 500 may further include a heat sink 504. The heatsink 504 acts a thermal conductor that dissipates the heat generated bythe repeater device 500, thereby allowing regulation of the temperatureof the repeater device 104 at levels suitable for functioning of therepeater device 500. In some embodiments, one or more integrated phasedarray antenna transceivers may be arranged at the first surface 502A andthe second surface 502B. In some embodiments, one or more integratedphased array antenna transceivers may be arranged at the first surface502A and the second surface 502B. In some embodiments, one or morephased array antenna receivers and one or more phased array antennatransmitters may be arranged as separate hardware modules at the firstsurface 502A and the second surface 502B.

In accordance with an embodiment, the integrated repeater system 102 maybe referred to as one-sided repeater system as only one repeater device,such as the repeater device 500, may be arranged at one exterior side ofthe glass structure 114 (FIG. 1 ). In accordance with anotherembodiment, in the integrated repeater system 102, one repeater device,such as the repeater device 500, may be arranged within the glassstructure 114 in the air gap 120.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary integrated repeater system, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 6 is explained in conjunction withelements from FIGS. 1, 2A to 2C, 3, 4 , and 5. With reference to FIG. 6, there is shown a block diagram 600 of the integrated repeater system102. The integrated repeater system 102 may include the repeater device104, the impedance matching component 106, a lens 602. The repeaterdevice 104 may include a memory 604, a control circuitry 606, afront-end radio frequency (RF) section 608, a heat sink 610, and one ormore printed circuit boards, such as a printed circuit board 612. In animplementation, the front-end RF section 608 may include a plurality ofphased array antenna receivers 614, and a plurality of phased arrayantenna transmitters 616. Alternatively, in another implementation, thefront-end RF section 608 may include one or more integrated phased arrayantenna transceivers, such as an integrated phased array antennatransceiver 618.

The lens 602 may be one of: the lens 202 (FIG. 2A), the lens 204 (FIG.2B), or the lens 206 (FIG. 2C). The lens 602 may be made of Teflon,glass, or plastic material. The lens 602 when arranged at the glassstructure 114 not only increases the scanning range of the repeaterdevice 104, but also increases an antenna gain while maintaining notransmission loss at the frequency of the transmitted mmWave radiofrequency signal, the second level of transmission loss that is lessthan the first level of transmission loss, or the third level oftransmission loss that is less than the first level of transmission lossand the second level of transmission loss.

The memory 604 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and/or interfacesthat may be configured to store instructions executable by the controlcircuitry 606. The memory 604 may be configured to store values oftransmission loss, values of impedance matching, antenna gain, andscanning angle, and the like. Examples of implementation of the memory604 may include, but not limited to, a random access memory (RAM), adynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static random access memory(SRAM), a processor cache, a thyristor random access memory (T-RAM), azero-capacitor random access memory (Z-RAM), a read only memory (ROM), ahard disk drive (HDD), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash drive, cachememory, and/or other non-volatile memory. It is to be understood by aperson having ordinary skill in the art that the repeater device 104 mayfurther include one or more other components, such as analog to digitalconverters (ADCs), digital to analog circuitry (DAC), a LTE modem, andthe like, known in the art, which are omitted for brevity.

The control circuitry 606 may be configured to control variouscomponents of the integrated repeater system 102. The control circuitry606 may be configured to tune an impedance of the one or more phasedarray antenna transmitters (e.g. the plurality of phased array antennatransmitters 616) in accordance with the glass structure 114, based onthe impedance matching component 106. Example of the implementation ofthe control circuitry 606 may include, but are not limited to a digitalsignal processor, an embedded processor, a microcontroller, aspecialized DSP, a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor,an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, and/or other processors, orcircuitry.

The plurality of phased array antenna receivers 614 may correspond tothe one or more phased array antenna receivers (i.e. the first phasedarray antenna receiver 110A, the second phased array antenna receiver110B, the third phased array antenna receiver 110C, and the fourthphased array antenna receiver 110D of FIG. 1 ). The plurality of phasedarray antenna transmitters 614 may correspond to the one or more phasedarray antenna transmitters (such as the first phased array antennatransmitter 112A, the second phased array antenna transmitter 112B, thethird phased array antenna transmitter 112C, and the fourth phased arrayantenna transmitter 112D of FIG. 1 ).

In an implementation, the front-end RF section 608 may include theplurality of phased array antenna receivers 614 and the plurality ofphased array antenna transmitters 616. One or more phased array antennareceivers of the plurality of phased array antenna receivers 614 may bearranged on the first surface 108A of the repeater device 104, where theone or more phased array antenna receivers may be configured to receivea mmWave radio frequency signal from the base station 124. One or morephased array antenna transmitters of the plurality of phased arrayantenna transmitters 616 may be arranged at the second surface 108B,where the one or more phased array antenna transmitters are configuredto transmit the received mmWave radio frequency signal through the glassstructure 114 to the UE 126. Moreover, one or more phased array antennareceivers of the plurality of phased array antenna receivers 614 may befurther arranged on the second surface 108B of the repeater device 104,where the one or more phased array antenna receivers may be configuredto receive a mmWave radio frequency signal from the UE 126 through theglass structure 114 in an uplink communication towards the base station124. Similarly, one or more phased array antenna transmitters of theplurality of phased array antenna transmitters 616 may be furtherarranged at the first surface 108A, where the one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters are configured to transmit a mmWave radio frequencysignal received from the UE 126 to the base station 124 in the uplinkcommunication. An exemplary implementation of the plurality of phasedarray antenna receivers 614 and the plurality of phased array antennatransmitters 616 as separate hardware modules has been described in FIG.3 .

In another implementation, one or more phased array antenna receivers(e.g. the plurality of phased array antenna receivers 614) and one ormore phased array antenna receivers (e.g. the plurality of phased arrayantenna transmitters 616) may be integrated as the integrated phasedarray antenna transceiver 618. In other words, the front-end RF section608 may include one or more integrated phased array antennatransceivers, such as the integrated phased array antenna transceiver618, where a signal receiving function and a signal transmittingfunction may be shared (or distributed) among the array of antennaelements of the integrated phased array antenna transceiver 618. Anexemplary integrated phased array antenna transceiver 404 has beendescribed, for example, in FIG. 4 .

In accordance with an embodiment, the front-end RF section 608 mayinclude include a cascading receiver and transmitter chain comprisingvarious components (e.g., an antenna array, a set of low noiseamplifiers (LNA), a set of shared front end phase shifters, and a set ofpower combiners, a set of power dividers, a set of power amplifiers(PA), for beam reception and transmission (not shown for brevity). Inaccordance with an embodiment, the front-end RF section 608 may receiveone or more beams of input RF signals and transmit the one or more beamsof output RF signals in accordance with multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) reception and transmission.

The heat sink 610 refers to a thermal conductor that dissipates away theheat generated by the repeater device 104, thereby allowing regulationof the temperature of the repeater device 104 at levels suitable forfunctioning of the repeater device 104. An exemplary heat sink (e.g. theheat sink 504), has been described in FIG. 5 .

The one or more printed circuit boards, such as the printed circuitboard 612, may be a single layer or a multi-layer printed circuit board.The printed circuit board 612 may be made of Silicon, Benzocyclobutane,Nylon, or FR-4 etc. The one or more layers of the printed circuit board612 may include metallic feeding lines (electrical conductors) toprovide current (i.e. to excite) to a subset of antenna elements of oneor more phased array antenna transmitters of the plurality of phasedarray antenna transmitters 616.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary scenario of implementation ofan exemplary integrated repeater system for high network performance, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Withreference to FIG. 7 , there is shown an exemplary scenario 700 thatincludes a base station 702, integrated repeater systems 704A, 704B, and704C, user equipment (UE) 706A, 706B, 706C, and a customer premiseequipment (CPE) 708. The integrated repeater systems 704A, 704B, and704C may be attached on (or positioned near) low-e double-glazed windowpanes (e.g. the glass structure 114 of FIG. 1 ) of a building 710, inwhich the UEs 706A, 706B, 706C, and the CPE 708 may be present. The basestation 702 may correspond to the base station 124 (FIG. 1 ). Each ofthe UEs 706A, 706B, 706C correspond to the UE 126. Each of theintegrated repeater systems 704A, 704B, and 704C correspond to theintegrated repeater system 102.

In accordance with the exemplary scenario 700, each of the UEs 706A,706B, 706C may be configured to communicate with the base station 702using 5G cellular communication through corresponding integratedrepeater systems 704A, 704B, and 704C, or the CPE 808. Alternatively,the each of the UEs 706A, 706B, 706C may be configured to communicatewith the base station 702 communication through the CPE 708 using Wi-Fi(communication shown by long-dash double-sided arrow). Each of theintegrated repeater systems 704A, 704B, and 704C improves the networkperformance and enables multi gigabit data communication with almostnegligible transmission loss due to the low-e double-glazed window panes(e.g. the glass structure 114 of FIG. 1 ).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates an exemplary method to operatean integrated repeater system for high network performance, inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 8 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1, 2A to 2C, and 3 to 7 . Withreference to FIG. 8 , there is shown a flowchart 800 comprisingexemplary operations 802 through 810 by the integrated repeater system102.

At 802, a mmWave radio frequency signal may be received by the repeaterdevice 104 from the base station 124. In an implementation, the one ormore phased array antenna receivers at the first surface 108A of therepeater device 104 may be configured to receive the mmWave radiofrequency from the base station 124. In another implementation, one ormore first phased array antenna transceivers (e.g. the integrated phasedarray antenna transceiver 404 or the integrated phased array antennatransceiver 618) at the first surface 108A of the repeater device 104may be configured to receive the mmWave radio frequency from the basestation 124.

At 804, the received mmWave radio frequency signal may be transmitted bythe repeater device through the glass structure 114 to the userequipment (UE) 126, where the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signalafter propagation through the glass structure 114 has a first level oftransmission loss. In an implementation, the one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters at the second surface 108B of the repeater device104 may be configured to transmit the received mmWave radio frequency tothe UE 126. In another implementation, one or more second integratedphased array antenna transceivers (e.g. the integrated phased arrayantenna transceiver 404 or the integrated phased array antennatransceiver 618) at the second surface 108B of the repeater device 104may be configured to transmit the received mmWave radio frequency to theUE 126.

At 806, an impedance of the one or more phased array antennatransmitters may be tuned by the impedance matching component 106 at therepeater device 104 in accordance with the glass structure 114 and afilter response of the glass structure 114 may be changed such that thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component 106 and the glass structure 114 has atleast one of: no transmission loss at a frequency of the transmittedmmWave radio frequency signal or a second level of transmission lossthat may be less than the first level of transmission loss. In animplementation, the control circuitry 606 may be configured to tune theimpedance of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters inaccordance with the glass structure 114 based on the impedance matchingcomponent 106. The impedance matching component 106 may be configured tochange the filter response of the glass structure 114.

At 808, a scanning range of the repeater device 104 may be increased bythe lens 602 arranged at the glass structure 114 such that thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component 106, the glass structure 114, and furtherthrough the lens 602 has an increased antenna gain in the increasedscanning range with at least one of: no transmission loss at thefrequency of the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or the secondlevel of transmission loss that may be less than the first level oftransmission loss.

At 810, a subset of antenna elements of the one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters may be excited by the repeater device 104. Thecontrol circuitry 606 of the repeater device 104 may be furtherconfigured to excite the subset of antenna elements of the one or morephased array antenna transmitters.

At 812, a switched beamforming may be executed by the repeater device104 from the excited subset of antenna elements based on the lens 602 inorder to switch between a plurality of beams of mmWave radio frequencysignals that points to different directions. The control circuitry 606of the repeater device 104 may be further configured to execute theswitched beamforming from the excited subset of antenna elements basedon the lens 602 in order to switch between the plurality of beams ofmmWave radio frequency signals that points to different directions.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer implementedinstructions that when executed by a communication device (e.g. theintegrated repeater system 102) causes the communication device executeoperations to receive a mmWave radio frequency signal from the basestation 124; transmit the received mmWave radio frequency signal throughthe glass structure 114 to the user equipment 126, where the transmittedmmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through the glassstructure 114 has a first level of transmission loss; tune, by theimpedance matching component 106 at the communication device, animpedance of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters inaccordance with the glass structure 114 and change a filter response ofthe glass structure 114 such that the transmitted mmWave radio frequencysignal after propagation through the impedance matching component 106and the glass structure 114 has at least one of: no transmission loss ata frequency of the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or a secondlevel of transmission loss that may be less than the first level oftransmission loss; and increase, by the lens 602 arranged at the glassstructure 114, a scanning range of the communication device such thatthe transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation throughthe impedance matching component, the glass structure, and furtherthrough the lens has an increased antenna gain in the increased scanningrange with at least one of: no transmission loss at the frequency of thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or the second level oftransmission loss that may be less than the first level of transmissionloss.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide the integratedrepeater system 102 (FIG. 1 ). The integrated repeater system 102comprises the repeater device 104 having the first surface 108A and thesecond surface 108B that is opposite the first surface 108A. Therepeater device 104 may comprise one or more phased array antennareceivers and one or more phased array antenna transmitters. The one ormore phased array antenna receivers are arranged on the first surface108A and are configured to receive a mmWave radio frequency signal fromthe base station 124. The one or more phased array antenna transmittersare arranged on the second surface 108B, and are configured to transmitthe received mmWave radio frequency signal through the glass structure114 to the user equipment 126, and where the transmitted mmWave radiofrequency signal after propagation through the glass structure 114 has afirst level of transmission loss. The integrated repeater system 102further comprises the impedance matching component 106 having adielectric property is arranged between the second surface 108B and theglass structure 114. The repeater device 104 further comprises thecontrol circuitry 606 configured to tune an impedance of the one or morephased array antenna transmitters in accordance with the glass structure114, based on the impedance matching component 106. The impedancematching component 106 may be configured to change a filter response ofthe glass structure 114 such that the transmitted mmWave radio frequencysignal after propagation through the impedance matching component 106and the glass structure 114 has at least one of: no transmission loss ata frequency of the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal or a secondlevel of transmission loss that is less than the first level oftransmission loss.

In accordance with an embodiment, the integrated repeater system 102 mayfurther comprise the lens 602. In accordance with an embodiment, theglass structure 114 may be a low-emissivity double-glazed structurehaving two layers of glass with an air gap 120 between the two layers ofglass, where the first layer 116 of the two layers of glass has thefirst outer surface 116A facing the second surface 108B of the repeaterdevice 104 and the first inner surface 116B facing the air gap 120, andwhere the second layer 118 of glass has the second outer surface 118Afacing the lens 602 (e.g. the lens 202) and the second inner surface118B facing the first inner surface 116B, where the lens 602 (e.g. thelens 202) is arranged on the second outer surface 118B, and where thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component 106 and the glass structure 114 furtherpasses through the lens 602 (e.g. the lens 202).

In accordance with an embodiment, the lens 602 (e.g. the lens 204) maybe arranged in the air gap 120 between the first inner surface 116B andthe second inner surface 118B. In accordance with an embodiment, thelens 602 (e.g. the lens 206) may be integrated or patterned in at leastone of the two layers of glass of the glass structure 114. In accordancewith an embodiment, the control circuitry 606 may be further configuredto excite a subset of antenna elements of the one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters; and execute a switched beamforming from theexcited subset of antenna elements based on the lens in order to switchbetween a plurality of beams of mmWave radio frequency signals thatpoints to different directions. In accordance with an embodiment, thelens 602 is arranged at the glass structure such that a scanning rangeof the one or more phased array antenna transmitters is increased forthe execution of the switched beamforming. The one or more phased arrayantenna receivers and one or more phased array antenna transmitters areintegrated into the phased array antenna transceiver 404 (or the phasedarray antenna transceiver 618) that comprises the array of antennaelements 406, where the control circuitry 606 may be configured todistribute a signal receiving function and a signal transmittingfunction among the array of antenna elements 406.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide another integratedrepeater system 200A, 200B, or 200C (FIG. 2A, 2B, or 2C). The integratedrepeater system 200A, 200B, or 200C comprises the repeater device 104having the first surface 108A and the second surface 108B that isopposite the first surface 108A. The repeater device 104 may compriseone or more phased array antenna receivers and one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters. The one or more phased array antenna receivers arearranged on the first surface 108A and are configured to receive ammWave radio frequency signal from the base station 124. The one or morephased array antenna transmitters are arranged on the second surface108B, and are configured to transmit the received mmWave radio frequencysignal through the glass structure 114 to the user equipment 126, andwhere the transmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagationthrough the glass structure 114 has a first level of transmission loss.The integrated repeater system 102 further comprises the impedancematching component 106 having a dielectric property is arranged betweenthe second surface 108B and the glass structure 114. The repeater device104 further comprises the control circuitry 606 configured to tune animpedance of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters inaccordance with the glass structure 114, based on the impedance matchingcomponent 106. The impedance matching component 106 may be configured tochange a filter response of the glass structure 114 such that thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component 106 and the glass structure 114 has atleast one of: no transmission loss at a frequency of the transmittedmmWave radio frequency signal or a second level of transmission lossthat is less than the first level of transmission loss. The integratedrepeater system 200A, 200B, or 200C may further comprise the lens 602arranged at the glass structure 114.

While various embodiments described in the present disclosure have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example, and not limitation. It is to be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail can be made therein without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to using hardware(e.g., within or coupled to a central processing unit (“CPU”),microprocessor, micro controller, digital signal processor, processorcore, system on chip (“SOC”) or any other device), implementations mayalso be embodied in software (e.g. computer readable code, program code,and/or instructions disposed in any form, such as source, object ormachine language) disposed for example in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium configured to store the software. Such softwarecan enable, for example, the function, fabrication, modeling,simulation, description and/or testing of the apparatus and methodsdescribe herein. For example, this can be accomplished through the useof general program languages (e.g., C, C++), hardware descriptionlanguages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL, and so on, or otheravailable programs. Such software can be disposed in any knownnon-transitory computer-readable medium, such as semiconductor, magneticdisc, or optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.). The software canalso be disposed as computer data embodied in a non-transitorycomputer-readable transmission medium (e.g., solid state memory anyother non-transitory medium including digital, optical, analog-basedmedium, such as removable storage media). Embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include methods of providing the apparatus describedherein by providing software describing the apparatus and subsequentlytransmitting the software as a computer data signal over a communicationnetwork including the internet and intranets.

It is to be further understood that the system described herein may beincluded in a semiconductor intellectual property core, such as amicroprocessor core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and transformed to hardwarein the production of integrated circuits. Additionally, the systemdescribed herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware andsoftware. Thus, the present disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated repeater system, comprising: arepeater device having a first surface and a second surface that isopposite the first surface, wherein the repeater device comprises one ormore phased array antenna receivers and one or more phased array antennatransmitters, wherein the one or more phased array antenna receivers arearranged on the first surface and are configured to receive a mmWaveradio frequency signal from a base station, wherein the one or morephased array antenna transmitters are arranged on at the second surfaceor the first surface, and are configured to transmit the received mmWaveradio frequency signal through a glass structure to a user equipment;and an impedance matching component between the second surface and theglass structure, wherein an impedance of the one or more phased arrayantenna transmitters is tuned in accordance with the glass structurebased on the impedance matching component.
 2. The integrated repeatersystem according to claim 1, further comprises a lens.
 3. The integratedrepeater system according to claim 2, where the glass structure is alow-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layers of glass withan air gap between the two layers of glass, wherein a first layer of thetwo layers of glass has a first outer surface facing the second surfaceof the repeater device and a first inner surface facing the air gap, andwherein a second layer of glass has a second outer surface facing thelens and a second inner surface facing the first inner surface, whereinthe lens is arranged on the second outer surface, and wherein thetransmitted mmWave radio frequency signal after propagation through theimpedance matching component and the glass structure further passesthrough the lens.
 4. The integrated repeater system according to claim2, where the glass structure is a low-emissivity double-glazed structurehaving two layers of glass with an air gap between the two layers ofglass, wherein a first layer of the two layers of glass has a firstouter surface facing the second surface of the repeater device and afirst inner surface facing the air gap, and wherein a second layer ofglass has a second outer surface and a second inner surface facing theair gap and the first inner surface, wherein the lens is arranged in theair gap between the first inner surface and the second inner surface. 5.The integrated repeater system according to claim 2, where the glassstructure is a low-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layersof glass with an air gap between the two layers of glass, wherein afirst layer of the two layers of glass has a first outer surface facingthe second surface of the repeater device and a first inner surfacefacing the air gap, and wherein a second layer of glass has a secondouter surface and a second inner surface facing the air gap and thefirst inner surface, wherein the lens is integrated or patterned in atleast one of the two layers of glass of the glass structure.
 6. Theintegrated repeater system according to claim 2, wherein the repeaterdevice is further configured to: excite a subset of antenna elements ofthe one or more phased array antenna transmitters; and execute aswitched beamforming from the excited subset of antenna elements basedon the lens in order to switch between a plurality of beams of mmWaveradio frequency signals that points to different directions.
 7. Theintegrated repeater system according to claim 6, wherein the lens isarranged at the glass structure such that a scanning range of the one ormore phased array antenna transmitters is increased for the execution ofthe switched beamforming.
 8. The integrated repeater system according toclaim 1, wherein the impedance matching component has a dielectricproperty, and the dielectric property of the impedance matchingcomponent corresponds to a dielectric constant that is in a range of 2to
 4. 9. The integrated repeater system according to claim 1, whereinthe repeater device further comprises a printed circuit board and a heatsink.
 10. The integrated repeater system according to claim 1, whereinthe one or more phased array antenna receivers and one or more phasedarray antenna transmitters are integrated into one phased array antennatransceiver that comprises an array of antenna elements, wherein therepeater device is further configured to distribute a signal receivingfunction and a signal transmitting function among the array of antennaelements.
 11. An integrated repeater system, comprising: a repeaterdevice having a first surface and a second surface that is opposite thefirst surface, wherein the repeater device comprises one or more phasedarray antenna receivers and one or more phased array antennatransmitters, wherein the one or more phased array antenna receivers arearranged on the first surface and are configured to receive a mmWaveradio frequency signal from a base station, wherein the one or morephased array antenna transmitters are arranged on the second surface orthe first surface, and are configured to transmit the received mmWaveradio frequency signal through a glass structure to a user equipment,and an impedance matching component between the second surface and theglass structure, and wherein an impedance of the one or more phasedarray antenna transmitters is tuned in accordance with the glassstructure based on the impedance matching component; and a lens arrangedat the glass structure, wherein the transmitted mmWave radio frequencysignal after propagation through the glass structure passes through thelens.
 12. The integrated repeater system according to claim 11, wherethe glass structure is a low-emissivity double-glazed structure havingtwo layers of glass with an air gap between the two layers of glass,wherein a first layer of the two layers of glass has a first outersurface facing the second surface of the repeater device and a firstinner surface facing the air gap, and wherein a second layer of glasshas a second outer surface facing the lens and a second inner surfacefacing the first inner surface, wherein the lens is arranged on thesecond outer surface, and wherein the transmitted mmWave radio frequencysignal after propagation through the impedance matching component andthe glass structure further passes through the lens.
 13. The integratedrepeater system according to claim 11, where the glass structure is alow-emissivity double-glazed structure having two layers of glass withan air gap between the two layers of glass, wherein a first layer of thetwo layers of glass has a first outer surface facing the second surfaceof the repeater device and a first inner surface facing the air gap, andwherein a second layer of glass has a second outer surface and a secondinner surface facing the air gap and the first inner surface, whereinthe lens is arranged in the air gap between the first inner surface andthe second inner surface.
 14. The integrated repeater system accordingto claim 11, where the glass structure is a low-emissivity double-glazedstructure having two layers of glass with an air gap between the twolayers of glass, wherein a first layer of the two layers of glass has afirst outer surface facing the second surface of the repeater device anda first inner surface facing the air gap, and wherein a second layer ofglass has a second outer surface and a second inner surface facing theair gap and the first inner surface, wherein the lens is integrated orpatterned in at least one of the two layers of glass of the glassstructure.
 15. The integrated repeater system according to claim 11,wherein the repeater device is further configured to: excite a subset ofantenna elements of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters;and execute a switched beamforming from the excited subset of antennaelements based on the lens in order to switch between a plurality ofbeams of mmWave radio frequency signals that points to differentdirections.
 16. The integrated repeater system according to claim 15,wherein the lens is arranged at the glass structure such that a scanningrange of the one or more phased array antenna transmitters is increasedfor the execution of the switched beamforming.
 17. The integratedrepeater system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more phasedarray antenna receivers and one or more phased array antennatransmitters are integrated into one phased array antenna transceiverthat comprises an array of antenna elements, wherein the repeater deviceis further configured to distribute a signal receiving function and asignal transmitting function among the array of antenna elements. 18.The integrated repeater system according to claim 17, wherein theintegrated one phased array antenna transceiver is arranged at the firstsurface of the repeater device.
 19. The integrated repeater systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the impedance matching component has adielectric property, and the dielectric property of the impedancematching component corresponds to a dielectric constant that is in arange of 2 to
 4. 20. A method to operate an integrated repeater system,the method comprising: receiving, by a repeater device, a mmWave radiofrequency signal from a base station; transmitting, by the repeaterdevice, the received mmWave radio frequency signal through a glassstructure to a user equipment, and wherein the transmitted mmWave radiofrequency signal after propagation through the glass structure furtherpasses through a lens; and tune, by the repeater device, an impedance ofone or more phased array antenna transmitters in accordance with theglass structure based on an impedance matching component of the repeaterdevice, wherein the lens is arranged at the glass structure to increasea scanning range of the repeater device.
 21. The method according toclaim 20, further comprising: exciting, by the repeater device, a subsetof antenna elements of the one or more phased array antennatransmitters; and executing, by the repeater device, a switchedbeamforming from the excited subset of antenna elements based on thelens in order to switch between a plurality of beams of mmWave radiofrequency signals that points to different directions.
 22. The methodaccording to claim 20, wherein the impedance matching component has adielectric property, and the dielectric property of the impedancematching component corresponds to a dielectric constant that is in arange of 2 to 4.